An Unlikely Hero
by Dorky Desperado
Summary: With the final battle for the fate of the world drawing to the end, there is only one last Avenger standing between Thanos and complete victory. Will this hero be able to stop his rampage? Will Thanos emerge as the victor? Or perhaps, there is still someone else...


**This is my first story I've ever written. I wanted to practice my writing and thought Fanfiction would be a fun way to do it. It's short, sweet and to the point. I hope you all enjoy!**

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The Avengers had fallen. Dust and debris clouded the ruined city block. Broken silhouettes of the buildings were the only things that could be seen through all of the destruction. Scattered through the area lied the Avengers, broken and battered. Earth mightiest heroes had lost to the space warlord Thanos, who had obtained all of the Infinity Stones, making him the most powerful being in the universe.

It had been a long and hard-fought battle. However, no matter how much they struggled, how much they bled, how many heroes they brought into battle, it could not even hope to compare to the unlimited power Thanos now wielded in his hand.

Slowly, the last Avenger conscious dragged himself to his unconscious friend, a man who stood beside him all of his life, a true comrade who had never let him down. Groot picked up Rocket Raccoon in order to hold him close as he awaited the end.

"How touching," the warlord mocked as he strode over to the pair, the broken helmet of the metal man crushed in his palm. "The last moments of your pitiful life, spent cradling a fallen comrade."

Thanos stopped in front of the pair and dropped the broken piece of metal at their feet. "Well, it would be, if it wasn't so cliché. Do you know how often I've seen this same picture before me? How many people have stared at me defiantly as I snuffed the light out of their eyes? One hundred? One thousand? Even the most heart-warming of moments become tiring after a while."

Thanos smirked as he lifted Groot off the ground by his head. Groot tightly held Rocket in his branches as he tried to protect him from the tyrant. No matter how futile it was, Groot knew he had to try something to save his friend. But all he could do was muster every ounce of hatred in his being and glared at Thanos. He silently hoped the glare would melt his face off.

Thanos only laughed.

"Look around you plant," Thanos said swinging Groot's body around. "All of your friends lay at my feet. There is nothing you can possibly do to save them. I have finally achieved what I sought after for so long. And now there is no one in the universe capable of stopping me." Thanos brought Groot to his face, "You should feel honored you are here to witness it. This is the dawn of a new age. My age."

"I am Groot."

"Heh, is that so? That's actually the first time I've heard that one. Well, then goodbye tree. You should have comfort in your originality."

As Thanos reared back his fist, the world around him seemed to shimmer, as if space itself had to make room for this man, this god, as he prepared to end Groot's life. Groot clutched Rocket ever tighter in his arms has he readied himself for the end.

"Excuse me?"

Time seemed to pause as both Thanos and Groot registered the new voice, both completely unaware of a new presence entering the fray. Thanos lowered Groot as he turned to look at the new presence.

Groot had never seen someone so ridiculous in his life.

In a universe filled with talking raccoons, blue aliens and wizards, this man was so ridiculous because of how stupidly simple he looked. The clash of his bright red boots and his bright yellow jumpsuit was enough to make Groot cringe; although his billowing white cape matched perfectly with the sun reflecting off his bald head. However most stupid thing about the man was the complete look of apathy on his face, as if this battle for the sake of the world was a daily occurrence for him.

It seemed as though, Thanos was thrown through loop as well.

"Where did you come from?"

"I live in the neighborhood. I heard all the racket. You all need to keep it down."

Groot couldn't believe what he was what he was hearing. Someone dared to stand against Thanos for something so... menial?

It sounded like Thanos couldn't believe it either.

"What?"

"It's a Sunday. There are a lot of working people who are trying to get some rest before the work weeks starts back up. I don't really know what is going on here and to be honest I don't really care what sort of role-playing thing you are all into-"

"WHAT?"

"But I can't stand by while you disturb these nice people's rest."

There was a moment of silence cause by pure shock at this sudden turn of events before Thanos erupted in laughter.

"You are an amusing man. Tell me, do you know who I am?"

"No, I'm not really into this sort of thing. "

"I am Thanos," Thanos said as he ignored the impressively bald man. "Entire civilizations cower when they hear my name. Entire planets have been deserted at the mere rumors of my arrival. I rule those planet's fortunate to bear my name with an iron fist. Instilling order through the fear of my might. My presence brings peace through fear."

Groot could only stare in pure bewilderment as the mysterious man seemed to grow even more apathetic to Thanos' words. Thanos didn't seem to notice or care.

"However, there was still disorder in the galaxy. Foolish planet's think they can escape my rule by rebelling against me, plotting my downfall, rallying other planets to stand against me. Although, I would surely won these struggles in time, the fact that there are struggles instills hope into civilizations. And hope breeds chaos. The only way to bring order to the galaxy is to crush that hope with my own hands."

Thanos lifted the Infinity Gauntlet with pride as he curled his fist and admired the legendary item. "In order to do that, I needed power. Far more power than even I held. I scoured the universe for it. Tracing every single rumor, every single legend and every single mention of something I could use. And I found this."

He lifted his fist into the sky and proudly proclaimed, "The infinity stones! The very power of the cosmos itself condensed unto these six gems. With their power I'll-"

"So because of some pretty rocks you think you can rule the world? Who in their right mind would think that?"

"Excuse me?" Thanos did not look amused.

"That sounds like some scam. I have these fancy rocks so I get to rule over you. Who would buy into that? Are you some kind of idiot?"

Groot had never seen something so stupid in his entire life.

"Fool! I'll show you the true power of the Infinity Sto-"

Groot had never seen something so amazing in his entire life.

One moment, Thanos reared his fist back, ready to unleash pure Hell upon the poor soul who irked his ire. The next, Thanos was dead. His entire upper torso was blown away with such power, Groot nearly wilted away. The only thing left of Thanos was his waist-down, which fell over lamely a moment later.

All the while, the stupid looking man stood there with a single, outstretched, smoking fist. He almost looked disappointed.

"Well, I guess that solves that," the bald man said as he clapped his hands together. He turned to look at Groot with a dopey, smiling impression. "Make sure you keep it down. I guess I can understand why pretending to be a hero can be exciting. But please try to keep it down while you roleplay with your friends ok?"

"I am Groot."

"...okay? I'm Saitama. Anyway, I'm going to head back to my apartment and play some video games. My friend is really good so I can't have all if this noise distracting me. See you later!"

Groot watched as the man jogged away from the scene of the battle. He stood there for a long time, unable to move or think. All he could do was try to process what had just happened.

A groan and some rustling awoke Groot from his stupor.

He turned over to see the human they called Captain slowly pick himself off the ground. He looked around and saw the remains of Thanos scattered on the ground. His face was frozen in a look of pure shock and confusion. He slowly walked over to them stopping to pick up the dented Infinity Gauntlet off of the ground.

He then turned to look at Groot.

"How? What? Groot did you do this? What happened? How did you defeat Thanos?!"

Groot needed to tell him. He needed to tell them all of this amazing hero who appeared out of nowhere and bested the evil tyrant Thanos with a single punch. They had to know about the man who saved their lives, about the man so powerful the Infinity Stones themselves could not stop Thanos from being obliterated. They needed to know about the greatest hero the universe had ever seen.

"I am Groot."

Steve Rogers looked back at Groot with a deadpan expression.

"You know, I don't even know why I asked."

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 **I think it'd be pretty funny if the decades worth of movies was just a long build-up to a OPM joke. Anyway, I hoped you all enjoyed it! I know, it wasn't much but I'd love any feedback y'all could give me! - Dorky Desperado**


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